From Devolution to Independence
There was a moment in Edinburgh last May which felt symbolic of Scotland’s drift away from England. Scotland’s newly elected parliamentarians were being blessed at St. Giles’s Cathedral on the historic Royal Mile, halfway between Edinburgh Castle and the Scottish Parliament. Prince Edward, representing the queen, was met with silence; a cheer went up as Alex Salmond arrived, the conquering hero.
The scruffy, bear-like leader of the Scottish National Party had just surprised everyone, including himself, by gaining the first overall majority since the Scottish parliament’s creation in 1999, undiminished by an international recession economists predicted would damage the case for separation, or by tricky questions over an independent Scotland’s future, including on defense.… Seguir leyendo »